Teaching and Special Educational Needs: Attention to Diversity

The educational model based on inclusion makes it possible to provide quality education for all.

Initially, special schools were considered to be "catch-all" schools where there were where there were students of a very diverse nature who could not be served in regular schools. Thus, the use of the term "special schools", whose connotation was linked to a categorical and watertight conceptualization with a classifying and/or segregating purpose, fell into disuse, in favor of the concept of "special educational needs" (SEN).

This phenomenon understands the student's circumstances as a dynamic and interactive learning process, to which the school must adapt the teaching to the individual characteristics of the student (abilities, limitations, learning rhythms, etc.). With this change, students with Special Educational Needs are welcomed into the regular classroom and integrated with the rest of the students. are welcomed into the regular classroom and integrated with the rest of the students in order to enhance their personal and intellectual development. in order to enhance their personal and intellectual development.

The Special Educational Needs

The first contributions to the conceptualization of SEN were not made until the 1960s, although it was in 1974 when Mary Warnok published a report on the state of Special Education in Great Britain. This fact was the trigger for the application of the first measures in the educational system at a global level, mainly:

Teacher training and further training of teachers.

This was done in the sense of orienting this group to obtain greater competence and specific knowledge about the concept of Special Education. specific knowledge about the concept of Special Education and the implications of its implementation. The initiative was intended to provide all teachers with a series of one-year official qualifications and a complementary financial incentive.

The anticipation of special educational intervention

Specifically, in pupils with SEN under five years of age, increasing the total number of nursery and infant schools for children with more pronounced educational difficulties.

Broadening the range of action

We began to work also with with students with SEN between the ages of sixteen and nineteen, once compulsory schooling after the end of compulsory schooling, with the aim of offering them the corresponding help and guidance to consolidate a greater social and economic integration into adult life.

Educational inclusion

The concept of "integration", which initially represented a very significant advance in terms of attention to all students with SEN, subsequently lost its incipient essence. Thus, this phenomenon began to be linked to segregation and the removal of schoolchildren with learning difficulties or some type of physical or mental handicap. with learning difficulties or some kind of physical or mental handicap, compared to children without these characteristics. children without these characteristics.

Thus, the process of integration was understood as a type of differential education, in which the educational curriculum was applied in a singular way. The result was once again and paradoxically a distancing between the two classes of students.

In contrast to the above, the term "inclusion" replaces the previous one, definitively giving the meaning that was originally intended to be given to the previous nomenclature. Inclusion succeeds in disintegrating the individualistic and perniciously taxonomical vision in order to achieve the priority objective of quality and equal education for all students, regardless of whether they have a deficit or limitation.regardless of whether they present a deficit or limitation.

This methodological and conceptual change is carried out with the aim of unifying both the aspects related to the school environment and those corresponding to the community area in a global way for each student.

In inclusive education, each student is accepted and valued for his or her particularities, circumstances and abilities, and is offered the same learning opportunities and the necessary support to enhance his or her development to the highest qualitative level.

This new model, therefore, is circumscribed in a more cooperative environment, to the detriment of the competitiveness more typical of the integration stage.

Principles of attention to diversity

Attention to diversity is defined as a new way of understanding teaching, which is based on the principles of:

Quality education

That is, the guarantee of offering equal educational opportunities to all students, once the existence of diversity in this group has been assumed. the existence of diversity in this group, which is inherent and natural.which is inherent and natural in human beings.

Shared effort

Refers to the environment of collaboration and commitment between the parties that make up the educational community.

Convergent European educational space

In this context shared objectives are established and agreed upon within the educational system.

Under this concept, the "Equity in Education" Law is proposed, which aims to provide students with SEN with a series of different types of support to guarantee a quality educational learning process. These aids refer both to material and personal resources granted to centers and families, to the elaboration of specific educational programs and to the flexibilization in each of the stages of the educational system.

The ultimate aim of this proposal is to show greater personalization in the teaching process. personalization in the teaching process, adapted to the adapted to the particularities of each student.

Pedagogical intervention in the attention to diversity

In order to achieve the objective of inclusive education and to follow the principles of attention to diversity, the following strategies to be applied in the classroom context are proposed from the field of psycho-pedagogy:

Work in pairs or small groups

This resource has the advantage of encouraging both peer interaction and the sharing of joint experiences, as well as allowing the contributions of a given learner to complement those offered by another, thus achieving greater enrichment during learning.

The possible effect of "settling in the deficit" that the most limited learners may present should be taken into account, in the event that the demands of a particular learner may be too high. in the event that the teacher's demands are not equitable for all learners equally. for all students equally.

Working in corners

The division of the classroom into different stations or learning corners makes possible a greater dynamization and active participation in the learning process, since all the students go through all the stations, whose activities to be carried out have been selectively prepared by the teacher beforehand. previously prepared by the teacher.

Flexible groups

The fact of partitioning class groups according to educational needs, learning level/speed or the particularities of each student allows a better use and a greater personalization of teaching.

A negative aspect in the application of this resource is the possible appearance of comparative attitudes with respect to the characteristics of each student. comparative attitudes with respect to the characteristics of other classmates belonging to a different subgroup. belonging to a different subgroup.

Workshops

In this case, the work groups are formed based on the interests and concerns of the students. based on the interests and concerns of the students.. This resource has the advantage of being motivating for the children, although it must be ensured that at one time or another, everyone must do all the workshops in order to ensure a more complete learning.

In this methodology the teacher acts as a guideIn this methodology, the teacher acts as a guide, which favors the expression of creativity, initiative and greater autonomy in the work.

Bibliographical references:

• Cabrerizo, D. and Rubio Ma J. (2007). Attention to diversity: Theory and Practice. Madrid: Pearson Educación.
• Marchesi, A.; Coll, C. and Palacios, J. (1991). Psychological development and education. Madrid: Alianza.
• Tilstone, C., Florian, L. and Rose, R. (2003). Promotion and development of inclusive educational practices. Madrid: EOS.